Man arrested and charged with first-degree murder after fatal Sunday morning hit-and-run

CHICAGO - A suspect has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in a bizarre hit-and-run case that killed a 22-year-old man early Sunday morning on the Near West Side.^[1]

Officials have been tight-lipped about the incident that occurred around 5:15 a.m. Sunday morning on the first block of N. Ogden Avenue near Union Park on the city's Near West Side. At the time, police said that a dark-colored sedan struck a 22-year-old man while he was walking on the sidewalk, killing him. The vehicle fled and the victim was later pronounced dead at the scene.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office later identified the man who was struck and killed as 22-year-old Enrique Martinez, of Chicago.

In our original report about the incident we noted that police were indeed investigating the incident as a homicide and implied that the circumstances surrounding the incident were unusual.

Thursday afternoon, Chicago Police announced first-degree murder charges against 25-year-old Joseph Verdone, of Hillside, Ill.

The full circumstances surrounding the incident still remain relatively unknown, but police again alleged Verdone "drove a vehicle onto the sidewalk" and struck and killed a 22-year-old male (Martinez). Police have not once used the words deliberate or intentional but, based on the nature of the charges and the involvement of the Homicide Investigations Support Team, who took Verdone into custody at his Hillside home on Tuesday before charges were announced on Thursday, we're curious to hear more details regarding this case.

Verdone is due in bond court tomorrow.

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